My favorite sports event/memory/moment is … the time when I was selected to run film for USA Today Sports at the World Series. It was Game 4 – New York Yankees v. San Diego Padres in San Diego, CA. When the last pitch was fired for a strike and the win, I walked out of the Yankees tunnel to see a celebration on the field like no other that I had seen before. When the players, coaches and manager left the field I followed all of them into their locker room. They had just completed a historic run in major league baseball history winning 114 regular season games and 125 games to close out the World Series in just four games. As the champagne popped and sprayed all over the place, cigars lit up, hugs all around – there was non-stop excitement. I was standing amongst the elite athletes in baseball – Derek Jeter, Andy Pettite, Paul O’Neill, Scott Brosius (MVP), David Wells, Tino Martinez. I shook hands with the coaches Don Zimmer and Mel Stottlemyre and the manager, Joe Torre. When the trophy was presented to Mr. Steinbrenner on a podium, I happened to be next to him and a few minutes after his speech on camera, he leaned over to me and asked if his champagne drenched slicked back hair looked okay and if I wanted to hold the trophy. I declined to hold the trophy, but I said, “I’ll take a bottle of champagne and a cigar.” He laughed and told his people, “get this guy whatever he wants!” It was an epic moment that I’ll never forget.
Matt Waner comes to Centercourt after 20+ years in sales working for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups in next generation telecommunications technology and online media advertising. Warner has worked with Centercourt and its boys lacrosse program for the last 4 years, volunteering his time to help develop Kindergarten to High School players and continues promoting the sport around the state of New Jersey. He serves as one of the lead coaches for the Lacrosse Club of Montclair and is a board member for their township program. His background in coaching extends to multiple sports, most notably he was the Assistant Offensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coordinator for Dickinson College when they won two Centennial Conference Football championships and played in the NCAA Division III playoffs. Also, Warner served a couple of years as an Assistant Offensive Coordinator at Staples High School in Connecticut. He has coached summer travel teams in youth lacrosse and baseball as well.
While in college at Texas A&M University, Matt was on the men’s team that won a NCAA National Championship in 4-wall Handball – a team that took down their rival, the University of Texas.
Matt is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring along the next generation of athletes through the Centercourt Montclair programs and to provide a sports and entertainment experience second to none.